Bulk density of forested mineral soils

Abstract

Relationships between bulk density and organic matter content, textural properties and depth are described for forested mineral soils from central and northern Finland. Core samples were taken of the 0-5, 30-35 and 60-65 cm layers at 75 plots. Three measures of bulk density were calculated: the bulk density of the <20 cm fraction the bulk density of the <2 mm fraction and bulk density determined from the mass of a fixed volume of <2 mm soil taken in the laboratory. All three measures of bulk density were strongly correlated with organic matter content. Depth and gravel (2-20 mm) content were also important variables. Predictive models were derived for coarse soils. -from Authors